Finally biting the bullet and trying to post this before SotR comes out
I think a big curiosity about Haymitchās games were who mentored the D12 tributes as there were no previous district victors around to do so (you're in our thoughts, Lucy Gray)
Iāve had various theories over the years and I am very very excited to canonically learn how it went down. Mostly because I think Iāve thought of almost every possibility LMAO, so egotistically I think I have to be right about one of them. jk but not really.
Iāll be listing some of them numerically, but itās not an indication of which I think is most likely. I could do that, but Iām too indecisive. Some of these kinda overlap as youāll see, but I still wanted to divide each section the way I did.
This is one that I do think is kinda likely. See also my "no mentor" blurb. And this ties in with the "Capitol citizen" blurb.
"There's a woman, not Effie, calling the names in 12, but she still begins with 'Ladies first!'" -CF, chapter 14.
The assumption is that this is District 12's escort.
An escort could be allowed to do all of the things a mentor could do, even if they don't hold the the "mentor" title. Talk to sponsors, seal deals, etc. This would be different than what escorts could do during Katniss's era, but this is like 25 years earlier. I could go on about this theory since it makes a lot of sense to me, but I think the gist is clear.
2. A different capitol citizen
I think there's also a possibility of there being a temporary job position specifically dedicated to mentoring tributes with no previous district victors; instead of what happened in Ballad, this is a more legitimate position associated with the Gamemakers, but without the insider knowledge. They get trained on how they can "mentor," and what their limitations are. They know about the games through study of its history/previous games. They WOULD be classified as a "mentor." Idk, I have a lot of ideas of THIS topic specifically (Haymitch's/D12's mentors)
This would also allow all four D12 tributes to have an assigned mentor individually, or two mentors for D12 ("one for the girls, one for the boys").
2.1 Seneca Crane
I do not really think this, but it crossed my mind once. Only dependent on his age. The film made him seem young, but to my knowledge I don't remember the books ever mentioning his age?? This might be an impossibility but I didn't have the desire to check. I'd feel pretty stupid if they say he's young in the books or smth but oh well. I don't think it's him. This kind of is just in addition to the capitol citizen theory. OR the "Capitol student" theory.
3. A student in the Capitol
I don't think this at all considering what I remember from Ballad (and it just doesn't seem to make sense as to why they'd do this), and I doubt Snow and the gamemakers would want student involvement. I'm kinda listing this just to discount it tbh, but just to acknowledge it.
The only way I could see this is if it's like an internship type thing where the goal is to take on this "job" while moving up the ranks (like a gamemaker internship duties might have the "student" act as a tribute mentor). But this also just ties to my 2nd listing. Oh well.
I think this is just as likely and might even be jointly tied to the escort theory. We know D12 has someone to call out their names.
I think there's a possibility that the tributes with "no mentors" might just have to deal with not having a "mentor," and rely on the other people in their "tribute team." This point does tie in with and isn't mutually exclusive with some of the other ideas I've presented.
YES I know that in tbosas it establishes the mentor thing, and the assumption would be that that tradition carries on indefinitely with no changes to the concept of a "mentor" being a part of the Tribute Team. But, I think that in 12's case, there is a possibility they would be able to get by without one (or multiple). With stylists, escorts, trainers, Caesar, etc. There might not be a "mentor" if the established rule is that they're victors from a tribute's home district; until a district has a victor to mentor, the "mentor" position won't be filled.
That's the logic I was going at it with.
4.1 Tribute Trainers
This overlaps with several theories kinda, but I decided to place it here. Just as an extra point to consider. I think that the tribute trainers could serve the mentor function, just in the sense that they are there to provide survival and skill knowledge to the tributes. This might mitigate/take some of the load off the "mentor" position.
5. Chaff /another victor from a different district (like a victor from D1 or D2)
I like the theory that Chaff mentored Haymitch in fanon, though I do not know/think it will be canon. Watch me eat my words though LMAO. Idk, I can see it, if the Capitol/Snow decided to move away from Capitol citizens mentoring tributes altogether, then any district with no previous victor left to mentor gets one taken from the pool in other districts. I COULD see it, there might be some logic there that we can see in canon.
BUT. Counterarguments and things to consider:
ā¢Snow /the people in power do not want district unity. By doing this, this gives an opportunity for district unity to form. Which MIGHT be a point the book is trying to make, by using this situation as a way to highlight some inter-district interaction/unity. And then that leads to stricter/different rules for future games. But, I think that goes against what the Capitol (SNOW specifically) wants.
ā¢If this were true, then it would likely draw from victors in career districts which seemingly have the largest pool of victors. D1, D2, D4.
ā¢I could see Chaff being Haymitch's mentor, since D11 is right "next to" (numerically) D12. But that's assuming Chaff is older than Haymitch (did they confirm if he was in the books? I didn't think so but I could be wrong), and that's assuming Chaff was an "open" victor who didn't have to mentor his own tributes. There are work-arounds to all of these points obviously, but still.
THIS one I think is likely. It would tie in an important character and really work for the narrative. This makes a lot of sense to me for Plutarch to be involved SOMEHOW with Sunrise on the Reaping; I feel pretty strongly about his involvement, even if it's not him "mentoring" Haymitch and the others. Still, I could totally see Plutarch filling the "mentor" role somehow, even if he's not called a mentor. Maybe as a gamemaker intern? Idk, but if Plutarch is involved in this category it would make SO much sense. It could set up the relationship, introduce the concept of rebellion (or maybe not even a full on rebellion, but just seeing an early version of his character--maybe he wasn't always a rebel, maybe he goes through the arc of realizing the Capitol's cruelty through the 50th games)
I could go on about Plutarch here, but I will leave it at that for now.
8. Snow (I HIGHLY doubt this, but just to exhaust every option)
i doubt this for multiple reasons, but it would be crazy and bonkers if it turns out Snow "mentored" or had direct involvement with the D12 tributes. this would be like, almost the complete opposite of what we would logically think would happen though lmao. So once again, mostly just listing it to discount it.
Still, pretend it's a batshit theory.
Something else to consider is the D12 and all the other districts with no living victor BEFORE the 50th games: "how were they mentored, when did it become established that the mentors were victors," etc...
I'm curious if we'll get a throwaway sentence/explanation. I wonder if the 50th games marks a change for the "set up" for the games.
I've also thought about whether we will get an entirely new character(s) for the Tribute Team, or if there will be family tie-ins to the mentors/escort/tribute trainers/gamemakers/etc.
We know Caesar of course, which was directly tied to Lucky Flickerman, and the students in Ballad had familiar last names. Curious to see who else.
(that'd be crazy if they had the D12 escort be Effie's mom or aunt or smth--I doubt it considering I don't think THAT position is "inheritable." But who knows, maybe we'll read the name "Trinket" somewhere, even if it's not at all associated with D12)
This also goes for characters outside the capitol ofc, with a huge draw/curiosity is how the people in Haymitch's generation knew and interacted with each other (like Peeta's parents, Katniss's parents, the Hawthorne family, etc etc)
I'm not sure if I want one of my above-listed ideas to be canon, or if I want to be completely surprised.
Idk, these are all fan theories of what I think could work (some of which I do NOT think could work). Some of these are concepts I've played with in fanfiction (or fanfiction ideation lmao). It seems like such a random detail but I am very curious for the canon mentor-situation.
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